Seydisfjordur, Iceland

How the Internet Reaches Seyðisfjörður

Seyðisfjörður is a small town on the eastern coast of Iceland, situated at the innermost point of the fjord sharing its name, in the country's Eastern Region. Iceland is a remote North Atlantic island nation, and like all such locations, its international internet connectivity depends entirely on submarine cables rather than any overland routes. For Seyðisfjörður specifically, international traffic arrives directly via a submarine cable landing at the town itself, making it one of only two submarine cable landing points in the entire country.

The single cable landing here, FARICE-1, carries all international internet traffic entering and leaving Seyðisfjörður. This makes Seyðisfjörður a direct terminus on an international submarine cable route, rather than a secondary node reached via domestic infrastructure from another Icelandic city.

The Cable Serving Seyðisfjörður

The FARICE-1 cable, which entered service in 2004, spans 1,205 km and connects Seyðisfjörður to the Faroe Islands and the United Kingdom. Its landing points are Seyðisfjörður in Iceland, Funningsfjørður in the Faroe Islands, and Dunnet Bay in the United Kingdom. This cable routes internet traffic from eastern Iceland southeastward across the North Atlantic, via the Faroe Islands, and onward to the UK — providing Seyðisfjörður's only direct submarine link to the broader global internet.

Regional Context

Iceland as a whole is served by just two submarine cables landing at two distinct points. Seyðisfjörður hosts one of those cables — FARICE-1 — while the country's other landing point, Landeyjar, hosts the second cable. The average cable length across Iceland's two connections is 2,893 km, reflecting the significant ocean distances involved in linking Iceland to neighbouring countries. Seyðisfjörður therefore carries significant weight in Iceland's overall submarine cable picture, despite being a small eastern town.

What This Means for Connectivity

All international internet traffic flowing through Seyðisfjörður travels over FARICE-1. An outage on this cable would sever the town's direct link to international networks, cutting off connectivity to the Faroe Islands and the United Kingdom — the two territories this cable physically reaches. From the UK, onward connectivity extends to the wider global internet. Because FARICE-1 is the sole cable at this landing point, there is no local submarine redundancy; Seyðisfjörður relies on a single physical route for all externally destined traffic.

With only two submarine cable landing points across the entirety of Iceland, and with Seyðisfjörður serving as one of them, the eastern town plays a notable role in the country's international internet topology. Understanding that this remote fjord-side location is a direct terminus on a transatlantic-adjacent cable — rather than an inland endpoint reached via domestic links — illustrates how submarine infrastructure can reach even the most geographically isolated communities.